Modeling, design and experimental results for high efficiency multi-junction solar cells lattice matched to InP

María González; Matthew P. Lumb; Michael K. Yakes; Joshua Abell; Joseph G. Tischler; Christopher G. Bailey; Igor Vurgaftman; Jerry R. Meyer; Louise C. Hirst; Kenneth J. Schmieder; Sergio I. Molina; Francisco P. Delgado; Jessica G. J. Adams; Glen Hillier; Nicholas J. Ekins-Daukes; Robert J. Walters

doi:10.1117/12.2041289

7 March 2014 Modeling, design and experimental results for high efficiency multi-junction solar cells lattice matched to InP

María González, Matthew P. Lumb, Michael K. Yakes, Joshua Abell, Joseph G. Tischler, Christopher G. Bailey, Igor Vurgaftman, Jerry R. Meyer, Louise C. Hirst, Kenneth J. Schmieder, Sergio I. Molina, Francisco P. Delgado, Jessica G. J. Adams, Glen Hillier, Nicholas J. Ekins-Daukes, Robert J. Walters

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8981, Physics, Simulation, and Photonic Engineering of Photovoltaic Devices III; 898117 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2041289
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2014, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

The high conversion efficiencies demonstrated by multi-junction solar cells over the past three decades have made them indispensable for use in space and are very attractive for terrestrial concentrator applications. The multi-junction technology consistently displays efficiency values in excess of 30%, with record highs of 37.8% under 1 sun conditions and over 44% under concentration. However, as material quality in current III-V multi-junction technology reaches practical limits, more sophisticated structures will be required to further improve on these efficiency values. In a collaborative effort amongst several institutions we have developed a novel multi-junction solar cell design that has the potential to reach the 50% conversion efficiency value. Our design consists of a three junction cell grown on InP substrates which achieves the optimal bandgaps for solar energy conversion using lattice matched materials. In this work, we present the progress in the different subcells comprising this multi-junction structure. For the top cell, InAlAsSb quaternary material is studied. For the middle, InGaAlAs and InGaAsP materials and devices are considered and for the bottom, a multi-quantum well structure lattice matched to InP for fine bandgap tunability for placement in an InGaAs cell is demonstrated.

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María González, Matthew P. Lumb, Michael K. Yakes, Joshua Abell, Joseph G. Tischler, Christopher G. Bailey, Igor Vurgaftman, Jerry R. Meyer, Louise C. Hirst, Kenneth J. Schmieder, Sergio I. Molina, Francisco P. Delgado, Jessica G. J. Adams, Glen Hillier, Nicholas J. Ekins-Daukes, and Robert J. Walters "Modeling, design and experimental results for high efficiency multi-junction solar cells lattice matched to InP", Proc. SPIE 8981, Physics, Simulation, and Photonic Engineering of Photovoltaic Devices III, 898117 (7 March 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2041289

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